Twenty years of legal struggle to obtain ownership of public ‘khas’

Location: Dinajpur District, Bangladesh

Timeline: 1991-2012

Principal organisations: CDA

In 1994, the landless villagers of Rajarampur in Dinajpur district, Bangladesh, applied for access to public ‘khas’ land (government owned land available for allocation according to government priorities) that had been lying fallow for years. In 1995 they occupied 115 acres of this fallow land. The occupation was contested by local elites, who filed false claims of ownership. After 20 years of legal struggle and resistance against the local elites, the villagers obtained in 2012 confirmation from the court that the occupied land was public ‘khas’ land and received formal ownership titles for 52.44 acres.